Mary Poppins Returns (****)

It's been really difficult to approach this review. On one hand, the original 1964 film remains a Disney classic, full of some of the catchiest songs in on-screen musical history. We also have Julie Andrews in her debut role, a performance that upon repeat viewings shows an immense presence and comic timing. Rob Marshall had a lot in his way, but surprisingly MARY POPPINS RETURNS hits nearly dead on: a great family movie with some great numbers.

Emily Blunt steps into the heels of the iconic character, and I really can't imagine another actress today who would even be considered. This new Mary Poppins is a bit more rough around the edges, has a more distinct pitch to her voice, and definitely wouldn't be a lot of children's choice as babysitter if pitted against Julie Andrews. Still, she is admirable in the way the role has evolved. It's 20 or 30 years after the Banks family went to fly a kite, and justly Mary returns just in time to save the day again.

Mr Banks (Michael, Ben Whishaw) has now grown up, raised 3 kids, and lost his wife... Oh and he is about to go broke and lose his house. His sister, Jane (Emily Mortimer) is a labor union protester (though no catchy song a-la "Sister Suffragette") who helps around the house and this and that. The children are largely independent, off on their own adventures in the park in an attempt to stay out of their father's hair. Did I mention he works at Fidelity Fiduciary Bank?

In swoops Mary Poppins, sharp as a tack and with a mission to "help the Banks family, children included." What follows is a plot that quite literally recreates the original beat for beat. It might be considered a reboot were they not the same characters from before. Everything from a tidying up song (this time in a bathtub) to a scene in which Mary and the kids go to visit a recluse who dances on the ceiling. I was a bit astounded to see the script so liberally lift from the original. Heck, they even included a chimney sweep song complete with elaborate choreography, though this time they're lamplighters.

I'm telling you that the stars of the movie are Marc Shaiman, who does the film's score, Scott Whitman as the lyricist. What they achieve has got to be one of the great modern musical film scores. The entracte opens the film with nostalgia for classic Broadway around the time of the original's debut, and the songs are individually catchy and certainly "hummable." More so than La La Land, I think this might be the new standard in terms of original musicals that Hollywood has put out in recent years. The actors, all doing their own singing (I believe) flesh out the scenes and deliver one great number after the next. Even Blunt's alto range suits the story and rarely makes its audience long for the clarity of Miss Andrews original voice.

I can't praise the film more due to it's incessant cling on the original. Like so many reboots recently, this film falls victim to an over saturation of nostalgia as opposed to real creativity. Instead of showing us something new, the filmmakers say "remember this? remember that??" We get it. For a large studio to take a gamble on a remake, it seems like nowadays the story needs to show us the familiar. It's too bad that so much of the story suffers as a result.